Analyzing the strategy of the establishment of the Islamic Revolution and its impacts on the national power

Introduction:

If the analysis of phenomena is neither conducted from the right perspective nor based on an intellectual machine that is compatible with those phenomena, then this will lead to the presentation of an incomplete and distorted perception in regards to those phenomena. In other terms, managing the phenomena at the beginning stage and then at the stages of change and evolution, happens based on a particular intellectual system whereby the phenomena are the objectives of that intellectual system. Therefore, for the sake of offering a real and correct analysis of the phenomena, it is necessary to elaborate the dimensions of the intellectual system that is dominant over the phenomena. Whenever a general and perfect idea is put into action after its formulation, it demands the software and rationality that is necessary to it.

Other than defeating the existing systems at the transnational level, this revolution achieved a special position at the international level of the Muslim countries. It also defined special roles and duties for the leaders of the revolution and the system resulting from that in the field of protecting nations and Muslims especially the liberation movements. On one hand, the ideological approach of the Islamic Revolution, the religious culture and the traditional and native values were unexpected for the Western world and specifically the United States. On the other hand, it led to the reception and susceptibility of the Muslim countries in the aspect of goals, politics and the methods related to this vital phenomenon. It also created special expectations in them for epitomizing and transferring the revolutionary experiences from the agents of the Islamic Revolution. Owing to this fact, apart from perceiving the religious obligation in the field of promulgating the teachings of the Islamic Revolution, the leaders of the Islamic Revolution ought to transfer their knowledge and experiences to them by taking heed of their religious responsibilities and the environmental situation.

According to the aforementioned incidents and by considering the aims and features of the Islamic Revolution stemming from the Islamic identity and the globalization of the Islamic ideology; an ideology which is religious and Islamic and due to being popular and inclusive, independent and lack of reliance on the West and East, fighting oppression and supporting the oppressed people and refuting colonization. And by deliberating the necessity of the unity of the Muslim world, fighting against the unjust system ruling the world and so on, the leader of the Islamic Revolution deemed it necessary to choose the approaches that conform with the aims of this revolution. In this way and for the sake of meeting the expectations of the lovers of the Islamic Revolution and from another point, designating the obligations in relation to the people who oppose this significant phenomenon, Imam Khomeini proposed the idea of the establishment of the revolution.

As the most essential need of the society, it is necessary to explain to the laymen the rationality of the strategy of the Islamic Revolution in response to these horrible attacks and facilitating the establishment of the revolution culture. Of course, the initiator of the commentary of Sharh Sadr Imani, Imam Khomeini explained these attacks in various forms in different stages of the revolution. After him, Sayyed Ali Hoseyni-Khamenei – the current and Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution – has also been steadfast on the strategy of the Islamic Revolution in standing against imperialism and has prevented the deviation of the revolution from its original path.

This creates a national power in different aspects of politics, culture and economic at the worldwide level which are in accordance with the defined components of national power for the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The basics of the aims of the establishment of the Islamic Revolution

In the beginning, we have to point out the origins and fields of view of the establishment of the revolution:

1. The religious universality of Islam.
2. Islam is a religion of justice.
3. The concept of a saviour and the concept of a universal government in the Shi’ah doctrine.
4. Supporting the oppressed and the weak nations.
5. The principle of neither depending on the West nor the East.

Factors hindering the establishment of the Islamic Revolution

Obstacles:

Although the determination and politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been focused on the establishment of the revolution, however, there were obstacles in the course of the revolution whereby some of the obstacles were internal. This means that the cause of the opposing forces standing against the politics of the establishment of the revolution stemmed from the politics or actions within the country or stemmed from outside the country from the politics and actions of other people. We shall hereby look at these obstacles:

Internal obstacles:

1. Chaotic internal situation

This obstacle was present especially during the beginning of the revolution whereby there were not yet favourable conditions for the revolution through which either the legal institutions had not yet been established or these institutions had not yet been completely become independent. Competition between groups, murder and assassination of people and officials, the existence of differences between the leaders of the separatist movements were more evident. This eventually made the officials more focused on organizing the internal situation. Likewise, the image illustrated by the media to the Muslims and people of other nations in regards to the Islamic Revolution was black.

2. The Imposed War

This factor can be analyzed as both an external and internal factor. From the perspective of an internal factor, it was a factor that led to the officials and the potential of the revolutionary people to be focused on the internal situations and preserving the new system and the economy of Iran to be turned into a war-based one. This means that their main aim was to control the war and this matter mostly suppressed the potency of the war, a potency that could have been utilized in the establishment of the revolution if only there was no war. From the external perspective too, this war was an imposed war from an external force which led to an all-inclusive revolution turn into a non-Arab Shi’ah revolution. The Western and Arab media showed the Iranian war as a war between the Arabs and non-Arabs and defined it as a means of establishing Shi’ah imperialism within the public opinion of the Arabs. This raised a lot of questions in the minds of the Arabs who supported the revolution and created pessimism in them towards Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

3. The minority status of the Sunnis

One of the elements of the pretext of some of the Western media was the status of the Sunnis in Iran especially from the fact that these minority groups mostly live in the outskirts of the country or are a part of the ethnic minority.

At the beginning of the revolution, separatist movements that were against the revolution in these border areas increased and led to a counteraction from the regime in relation to these movements. The Western media also portrayed these movements as the general movement of this minority and depicted the counteraction of Iran as a counteraction against all these movements which resulted in a negative look towards the counteraction of Iran against its own minority community.

4. Changing the political strategy

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the set of conditions and crisis that came about, everyone agreed to turn the strategy of the establishment of the revolution from an open one into a secret strategy. The eight-year-long Imposed War led to an economic crisis, different kinds of political and economic sanctions, the isolation of Iran, the passing away of Imam Khomeini, the unipolarity of the world and the conditions of construction after the war made everyone come together in order to create this political change.

External factors

1. The Wahhabi propaganda

One of the rivals of the ideology of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic Revolution was Wahhabism whereby its major propagandist and centre in Saudi Arabia. The rivalry of Saudi Arabia is ever on the rise by considering the Arab prejudice. By paying heed to the fact that Saudi Arabia has rich oil resources and the high income that they get from this source and the Two Holy Shrines[GS1] , they began a widespread propagation against the Shi’ah doctrine. This was done through the building of schools, enjoying the support of the press, forming and supporting parties, instituting cultural centres and issuing financial help in the marginalized regions and struggling to attract them towards Wahhabism and also creating a negative image in regards to the Shi’ahs and specifically the Iranians. By these means, they really hindered many chances for Iran to prosper in its course of the establishment of the revolution.

2. The trend of Pan-Arabism

Another factor that was a pretext for propaganda against Iran and hindered the establishment of the revolution was the trend of Pan-Arabisms which were conducted by the Arab countries and especially by Iraq and became a ploy after the beginning of the war. The Iraqi regime used this war to kind of depict its war as a war between the Arabs and non-Arabs and attract the support of the Arabs and to inculcate a negative influence regarding this matter on the public opinion of the Arabs who form a significant percentage of the Muslim world and were one of the main and foremost addressees of the Islamic Revolution.

3. The sovereignty of national governments

After the French Revolution, which formed the concept of nationalism, created a new framework of thinking and this matter was true for the Arab countries whereby these frameworks were the same frameworks for the national governments and concepts such as Islamic ummah (nation), the interests of Muslims and Islam were almost abolished. The most important thing for each and every country was its own national interest and this view is contrary to the Islamic and Shi’ah ideology which pays heed to the interests of the Muslims and this was one of the main obstacles of the establishment of the revolution.

4. Oppressive governments

Immediately after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the waves of the revolution spread to the other Muslim countries especially the neighbouring countries. This led to the formation or strengthening of the Islamic movements which wanted to form an Islamic government. Nonetheless, all these movements were severely suppressed by the leaders of the Muslim countries and the leaders and members of these movements were either prisoned, killed, sent into exile or their activities were seriously limited. The movement of the people of Iraq, Bahrain and the Shi’ahs of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are examples of this matter.

The elements of national power

1. A view based on the evaluation of power

The supporters of this view are divided into two: one group believes in quantifiability and the other group believes in the relationality of power. The people who view power as a quantifiable phenomenon, define power as a capacity for controlling strong masses of people in a given area and specific time. According to the quantity viewers, the material possessions or material resources of power have more value. Essentially, the quantity viewers put more consideration to the resources of power as a manifestation of power in comparison to the reflection of power in the society. It is due to this reason that Bertrand Russell considers power to be “the creation of desirable works” while Toni A.H considers power to be “the ability of an individual or a group” and people like Robert Dell are trying to formularize power. However, the people that believe in the relationality of power, do not put more emphasis on the resources of power. According to them, what is more important is to make greater use of these resources to bring people under control. In other words, the first group considers the essentials of power to be important while the second group considers the mechanism of implementing power to be important. Morgenthau and Max Weber share this opinion.

2. A view based on the power structure

In this view, the structure and function of power is taken into consideration. The supporters of this view are also divided into two groups. One group believes in the instrumentalism of power and the other group believes in the functionalism of power. The group that believes in the instrumentalism of power pays more heed to the tools and the methods of using them in the course of controlling people. The best example of instrumentalism in power can be found in the expression of Mao Zedong, the leader of the Chinese Revolution, who says: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Nonetheless, the supporters of the functionalism of power have a more unanimity with the supporters of the rationality of power. However, the difference between them is that the supporters of the rationality of power only consider the unilateral effects of power from the superior to the subordinate.

The importance of the national power

The perpetuity of national governments or any kind of an independent political unit in this unruly world full of threats depends on that country’s utilization of its own national power. The national power protects the country from external threats and based on this capability, countries achieve their national goals and maintain the security of their own country. The significance and value of the national power must be evaluated according to its products or in other words, by considering its causes. The national security of a nation is achieved by the national power and national security tops the national interest according to the political experts. It has assumed this top position based on the fact that anything can be achieved under the refuge of security, stability and tranquillity.

The elements of national power

There are different views in regards to the elements that form the national power. Of course, with the existence of different views, the common elements listed by the political science experts are as follows:

1. The area of the country, the presence of natural resources, nature of the borders and population.
2. Economic and industrial development and political stability.
3. A state of military readiness.
4. The quality of command and rulership.
5. National unity, solidarity and spirit.
6. Maintaining the dignity and friendship of foreign powers.

The moral quality is clearly evident from the views whereby in most cases the elements of power are common and have only been defined using different terms. It is obvious that each and every one of these elements plays a specific role in the production of the national power and enjoys a lofty position.

Influential factors on the national power

1. Political power

The Western political gurus believe that political power is the utmost capability of controlling the behaviour of other people. There are several factors in the complex process of political power whereby the most vital ones are as follows; political stability, the form of the government, the style of rulership, the political contribution of people and the power structure.

2. Economic power

Economic power means the capability of producing the products that are needed by the people, proper distribution and usage of the materialistic wealth in the national environment and the possibility to attend and even compete economically in the international markets. The criterion used to assess the economic power are as follows: Gross domestic product (GDP), annual growth of the economy, population quality and human resources, sufficient resources, the share of world trade and investment, taxes and tariffs and the manner of production (single-product or multi-product).

3. Scientific and technological power

Scientific power, the ability to produce knowledge, nurturing skilled human resources and technology for the sake of achieving the related goals. The criterion for assessing the scientific and technological power is as follows: producing knowledge, submitting articles to reputable international journals, nurturing skilled human resources in new scientific and technological fields like nanotechnology, biotechnology and aerospace.

4. Cultural power

Cultural power is defined as the capability of utilizing ideology, beliefs, behavioural epitomes, art, traditions and so on for the purpose of development and achieving aims and influencing other cultures and standing against cultural attack.

5. Military power

Military power is defined as all the armed forces of a country which alongside the other powers present in one political unit like political power, economic power, cultural power and so on is used for advancing national politics. The armed forces are the most vital element of military power and it includes the ground forces, air forces, maritime forces, the police force and the militia.

The views of Imam Khomeini and the current Supreme Leader – Ali Khamenei – regarding the establishment of the revolution

1. The words of Imam Khomeini  
2. Presenting Islam in its genuine form

“And we say that we want to establish Islam. This does not mean that we should get on planes and attack other countries. This is something that we have neither said nor are we capable of doing. Nonetheless, what we are capable of doing is that by the means of our own devices, by means of these media, press and the groups that are going outside the country, to propagate Islam to the people and the world in its genuine form, the way in which God Almighty has said, the way it is taught according to our traditions and the Noble Quran. This matter in itself can have more influence on the people than thousands of bombs and tanks.”

2. Promulgating spirituality in Iran

“We are saying that we want to establish a revolution, what we want to establish is this spirituality that has come about in Iran. We do not want to draw our swords and weapons to attack.”

3. Reducing the imperialists’ dominance of the world

“We have severally announced this reality in the foreign and international policy that we aim to propagate the influence of Islam in the world and reduce the imperialists’ dominance of the world.”

4. Fighting against sacrilege, polytheism and oppression

“We are saying that we want to establish our revolution and establish a similar situation in all the Muslim countries and, in fact, in all the countries where the poor people are under the rule of the imperialist, and create such an environment whereby there will be no more imperialist regimes.”

5. Reconciliation between nations and governments

“We are saying that we want to establish our revolution, what we want to is to establish a reconciliation between nations and governments.”

6. Awakening the nations

“From the fact that we are saying that our revolution must reach everywhere, people should not wrongly understand that we want to conquest other countries. What we want is the thing that has happened in Iran and the awakening that has taken place in Iran and liberating themselves from the imperialists and cutting off their hands from their national resources to happen in all the countries.”

7. The establishment of justice in the world

“I am hopeful that after two thousand and five hundred years of oppression and after fifty years of betrayal and oppression, we should be able to establish this justice that is indebted to the blessing of Islam and the saints of Islam that has come to the mankind, firstly in Iran and later on in the other parts of the world.”

8. Implementing pure monotheism among the Islamic nations

“By God’s grace, there is no difference in the sovereignty of the Islamic republic in regards to matters of principles, politics and beliefs and everyone is determined to implement the pure monotheism to the Muslim countries and crush the enemy’s head with a stone in order to achieve victory in the Muslim countries in the near future.”

9. Acquainting the Muslim countries and the oppressed people of the world with Islam and the just government of Islam

“…The people have decided not only to acquaint the Muslim world but also the oppressed people of the world with the holy religion of Islam and the just government of Islam.”

10. Shining the light of Islam in the world

“Thanks be to God that today the power of Iran and Islam in Iran is in such a way that it has attracted the focus of the weak nations towards itself, and Islam has been established in all parts of the world. And this was the aim of the establishment of the revolution and it has materialized and by the will of God, Islam will defeat the sacrilege in all the parts of the world.”

2.  The view of the Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

“There has been so much world propaganda against this expression of our Imam when he said: “We shall establish our revolution to all the parts of the world.” The aim of the revolution was not that we shall move from this part of the world to the other and start a war and force people to hold demonstrations and establish a revolution. This was not what the Imam meant. This is neither a part of our policies nor principles. Rather, it is something that we reject. This is how they have translated this expression and talked against it.”

The establishment of the revolution means the establishment of the Islamic human culture

The establishment of the revolution means the establishment of Islamic human culture and the establishment of chastity, purity and emphasis on human values. We are proud of this work and happy to execute this duty. This is the way of the prophets and we must go on with this matter.

The Western world must be ashamed of establishing corruption and misfortune all over the world

Is the Western world not ashamed for being the source of the corrupt western culture from the fact that they have promoted corruption, obscenity, addiction and different kinds of misfortunes all over the world? Where has all this corrupt culture which has unfortunately engulfed the poor third world come from? This is one of the consequences of Western culture and colonial civilization. Was man actually in need of all these things? All these are the cultural products from the United States and the European countries to the third world countries. They are not ashamed of their behaviour and are even proud of their filthy products to the other countries.

We have no restraint in promulgating the Islamic culture

“Why should we be ashamed of promulgating monotheism, etiquettes of the prophets, the spirit of sincerity, sacrifice, spiritual purification to the other countries? Why should we be ashamed of teaching the proper zeal, honour and firmness against the tyrannical power to the other nations? The nations do not believe that it is possible to fight against the agents and employees of the imperialist powers. We stood against them and even defeated them. Why should we not inculcate this act and experience to the public opinion of other countries? We are establishing the revolution. There is no hindrance whatsoever in us being capable of promulgating the pure monotheism, the religion of the prophets and the authentic human methods of patience, sacrifice and resistance to oppression to the other countries. The western and arrogant media which is being run by the Zionist money and the strategy of the filthy and corrupt politicians want to create controversy and make us regret this goal of establishing the revolutionary concepts and culture.

The United States is responsible for terrorism

Today, who is responsible for providing ammunition and missiles to the illegal government based in east Beirut and allies, the United States and Israel, in fighting against the Muslims? The United States is responsible for terrorism. It is below the dignity of the revolution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the religion of Islam to implement terrorism. Names such as terrorists are deserved by those evil people who are the greatest terrorists in the world.

Establishing the revolution in reference to establishing the revolutionary values and revealing the filth of the imperialists and oppressors is our divine duty.

Muslims should not fear names such as fundamentalists

“Through controversy and hooliganism, the Zionist media are referring to us as fundamentalists. This is while if we consider fundamentalism to be the return and reference to the principles and fundamentals of the religion, then we shall have achieved the greatest honour. No Muslim in any part of the world should ever be afraid of names such as fundamentalists. The holy principle of Islam guarantees the prosperity of man. The imperialists have weakened these Islamic principles in our lives. However, right now we are proud that we have gone back to the principles of Islam and the Noble Quran.

We know our responsibility is to promulgate the Islamic concepts and values

If the establishment of the revolution means the establishment of the Islamic human culture according to the Noble Quran, then this is correct and we are also proud of that. We are aware that our responsibility is to loudly propagate the concepts, values, legal laws and Islamic teachings which are the source of liberation for the weak and oppressed nations. We feel that if we do not carry out this duty, then we shall be held responsible.

The objectives of power according to the Supreme Leader

The roles of the Islamic government in regards to the internal affairs

In the Islamic government, power has different functions and roles to play. First and foremost, the major objective of the Islamic government is increasing spirituality and self-esteem among the people which we shall elaborate on in detail. Its second objective consists of matters like maintaining peace and security, people’s welfare, social justice, hygiene, creating employment and managing the politics of the Islamic community and the Islamic government in worldly matters.

1. The functioning of an Islamic government is equivalent to the divine will.
2. Establishing social justice.
3. Maintaining peace and security.
4. Safeguarding people’s welfare.

The roles of an Islamic government in the worldly affairs

Apart from the roles and duties relating to the internal affairs within its borders, the Islamic government has also duties in relation to the world and international arena and must show its power. Today everywhere in the world is connected and civilization, culture and the good and bad morals and misfortunes are quickly spread from one part of the world to the other and the whole world has been turned into a global village. It must have great diplomatic and strong international relations. This is a part of the duties of the Islamic government and an Islamic government does not support seclusion. Rather, it supports active and crucial participation in international matters.

Analysis

The strategy of the establishment is based on three vital matters:

1. The system of the concepts of the establishment of the revolution.
2. The structures of the establishment of the revolution.
3. The results of the establishment of the revolution.

In regards to the system of the concepts of the establishment of the revolution, we can say that apart from the political and economic sphere, Iran’s Islamic Revolution has a cultural approach which is a major criterion in the objectives of the revolution. A culture stemming from the pure and genuine Islam of our Holy Prophet (s). Before this, in the realm of strategy, soft power was summarized in two spheres. One is geopolitics and the second one is geo-economics. Nevertheless, the establishment of the revolution added another sphere to these two. This new sphere was the formation of soft power in the strategic perspective by means of cultural influence. This new sphere can be derived from the speeches of Imam Khomeini and the Supreme Leader, Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

The geo-cultural sphere which stems from the Islamic Revolution indicates that apart from the geography related to geometry and energy, the third sphere of geography related to culture can be established as a first step for forming a soft power. The establishment of the revolution was also formed on this basis. An overview of the political and economic geographic status illustrates that Iran is located at the heartland – enclosed in the area east of the Tibetan Plateau and west of the Iranian Plateau[GS2] . This geography alongside two vital waterways in the north and south of Iran has helped this land. Likewise, economically, Iran is located at the world energy centre.

In his book entitled, ‘Real war real peace,’ Nixon states: “Oil is like blood for the modern technological world whereby the Persian Gulf is pumping this blood to the West. In the waterways leading to the Persian Gulf, there are arteries that transfer this blood.”

 

However, why are all these possibilities and talents that constitute the establishment of the revolution neither provide the soft power in the geopolitical sphere nor the soft power in the geo-economics sphere and a third pillar called culture comes into play? Essentially, in a general look, when we remove the aspect of culture, custom and manner from the proximity of the Persian Gulf, the inter-territorial differences in this situation are more apparent than the common points; topics related to energy, ethnic issues and so on.

The enhancement of the border segregation by the imperialists must also be added to this list. Nonetheless, when we add culture to this sphere, a lot of common points in the religious and civilizational aspect, customs, traditions and intellectual system can be evaluated. These common points have remained neglected alongside the spirit of struggling in the course of God and sacrifice which have been taken from the pure context of Islam. It has produced a resource-based intellectual network in revolutionary literature in the centre and on the periphery.

This disciplined and well-balanced network which came from the constitution of the Middle East, came into existence with the establishment of the revolution and after the establishment of the revolution culture, it is developing in the course of the soft power. In conclusion, the establishment of the revolution can be considered as a cultural guideline whose contents have been taken from pure and genuine Islam and have been presented in the Eastern-Iranian style. A culture that is not about convergence and absorption by any means. Rather, it is about realizing the foundations of Islamic civilization. This criterion itself has led to the convergence and closeness of regional nations. Of course, it must be noted that the spirit of sacrifice, struggling in the course of God, scientism, piety and so on are all included in this sphere (cultural soft power). In a summary form, we can say:

1. The system of the concepts of the establishment of the revolution is the basis for culture. These bases are referred to as geo-cultural.
2. The structure of the establishment of the revolution is based on the existing geographical capacities, political sphere and energy. In other terms, the economic capacities (the energy sphere), regional geography and political capacities are the results of the cultural message of the revolution to the countries under the soft power of the revolution.
3. The results of the establishment of the revolution are neither correction nor reform of states, but the awakening of nations that have a similar meaning to the revolution. This susceptibility does not necessarily occur in the Muslim world. Rather, the sphere of this influence is found in the oppressed nations of the world. In conclusion, the sphere of the influence of the revolution must be assessed in the security doctrine without borders. This sphere consists of countries such as Latin The United States, some Scandinavian countries, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East region.

However, what impact will this establishment have in strengthening the national power?

Suppose we take into consideration the philosophy of colonial domination over the colonial lands, we shall comprehend that first of all, the colonized nations have lost the depth of their social norms through humiliation. They then forgot the necessity to defend the cultural values, social economy and politics. And this scope of impact has gradually increased even further. And the national power is nothing other than strengthening the criteria of national cohesion, trade balance, economic transactions in the scope of imports and exports, budget, efficiency and investing in savings. And add to that the power of maintaining security in the geographical area.

Subsequently, this puzzle will evolve to an extent that it can converge a network from the countries in this sphere. And this vital matter cannot be achieved unless with the implementation and coordination of the policies adopted and the decisions of the great leaders of the countries in question.

The establishment of the revolution in itself will lead to the conformity of policies of the leaders in the countries under the influence. Later on, this conformity in the decision-making will lead to the formation of a course that is connected through which every criterion present in the national power can enrich this course. The centrality of this course will be with the country of origin.

In this research, we can offer the course of resistance as an example whereby Iran as the pivot, is spearheading this course in countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the Arab countries on the periphery of the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan, a part of India and some countries of Latin America.

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